-The Hindu   Threat of drought still looming large with rainfall deficit remaining high at 48 per cent till July 28. The normal area of cultivation for total kharif season is 40.38 lakh hectares. Hyderabad: The prospects of Kharif cultivation have improved in Telangana to some extent over the last 10 days due to revival of monsoon, though the threat of drought conditions is still looming large with the rainfall deficit remaining high...

-Reuters NEW DELHI: India's reservoirs are depleting fast and monsoon rains need to pick up now if they are to have enough water to prevent a drop in output of major winter crops such as wheat and rapeseed that are sown from October, a senior government official said. Rains were 15 per cent below average in the week to July 16, an improvement from the previous week's shortfall of 41 per cent...

-BBC At least 60 people died in a recent outbreak of viral encephalitis in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, a top health official has said. Doctors say patients come from seven affected districts in northern Bengal. The disease usually occurs during the monsoon season across northern India and West Bengal is normally not among the worst-affected states. Encephalitis causes brain inflammation and can result in brain damage. Symptoms include headaches and fever. West...

-The Business Standard Because the ecology of various regions differs, it is silly to club them all under one countrywide average number A whopping three-fourth of the country's geographic area is right now facing a rainfall deficit severe enough to warrant crisis management. The Indian Meteorological Department's data shows that 74% of India has so far recorded monsoon rainfall much below its normal levels. Of the 36 rainfall divisions that the...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The monsoon's late revival has increased sowing of crops by 35% in the past week, but worries about agriculture persist as reservoir levels are low, while planting is still much lower than last year, and only slightly better than it was at this time in the drought year of 2009. The situation in water reservoirs was also worrisome as they were filled up to only 26%...